All the guru's in marketing, Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy and all of the magic marketing guru's all relate a story that came from a Yale research from 1953. Basically, stating that the 3% of graduating students that wrote their goals down acheived more personal wealth that of the other 97% combined. Sounds like a sound plan doesn't it? Here's the catch, after someone decided to research it further they found out the research didn't actually exist. It's an urban myth and is still being told.

If fact, when Brian Tracy was questioned about it his response was; ""Heard this story originally from Zig Ziglar. If it's not true it should be."

http://www.fastcompany.com/27953/if-your......se-gurus

I'm not saying that there's nothing useful from the gurus out there...but goes to show they are just as fallible and don't always research things fully themselves. Psychologically, we are always drawn to points that fit our own beliefs without necessarily challenging our own beliefs.

Let the discussion begin.

What difference does it make really? It's not about statistics, percentages, or even who or which guru offers what or is the best. All it really comes down to anyhow is YOU. Did YOU learn anything from the system or guru? Will YOU take the steps and action to make it happen? Do YOU have a plan, goals or specific process that YOU have figured out that is best for YOU? Can YOU follow and adhere to it? Is it practical for YOU and your area and business? Can YOU stick with it and follow through?

All the great plans, ideas, methods, techniques, secrets and goals mean absolutely nothing if YOU don't have the understanding, ability, drive and motivation to make it happen for YOU.

So many times entertainers want to point the finger at a system, person or concepts claiming they fail, are not good, or of course the popular "don't work in my area", etc. Almost any information can work or be adapted to work by anyone anywhere if YOU put in the effort and execution.

Another myth / urban legend is the, "we only use 10% of our brains". Quoted in Dale Carnegie's writings, and others.

Still, I really like Dale's other teachings.

- Donald

Hey Mindpro,
There's always something you can learn...not saying that. But by that same thought you should learn something from everyone you meet. I do think the "gurus" have a responsibility, just like any other "celerbrity". They need to do their research and teach what is real and true. Unlike us, they are not entertaining us, they are trying to teach you something. It's also not a matter of teaching something that's outdated like the "we only use 10% of our brains". That's now known to be false through science. The 1953 Yale study just never happened, and someone ran with it. Funny that the Zig Ziglar folks blame it on Tony Robbins.

Teaching something that is false is wrong, plain and simple. More recent studies have shown that the whole imagine yourself successful exercise can actually cause more psychological harm than good. Heck look what happened at the last Tony Robbins seminar here in California.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/feet-......blic_rss

Bazinga!

Yes, perpetuating something that is incorrect can come back to bite you.

For example, that is a false story about the Tony Robbins seminar and the (apparent) firewalk injuries, that is circulating around the web.

Read these two links, especially the first one:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marianne-s......499.html

http://training.tonyrobbins.com/1986/fox......irewalk/

Someone checked the facts!

- Donald

P.S. No one is free of making mistakes.

Touche Donald,

Never said anyone was perfect. But if you are going to be the "guru" you better be right.

By the way...the retraction didn't say nobody got hurt...they got hurt, just not as badly as the story first read.

Great points

One thing that is NOT an urban myth is, "if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there."
That too is a Zig saying.

People don't even take vacations without first having a plan.

Why would anyone want to discredit a goals speech by a 'motivational' speaker.
Sounds to me like the article writer was really hurting to find something to write about.

Tom

I can print a business card that says I'm a motivational speaker. Doesn't make me an expert. Anyone who pays a so called expert for advise has the right to hold that person accountable for the source of their information. My favorite is internet marketers who say your price should end in a '7' yet not a single one can tell you why. What research validates this? Saying "Dan Kennedy told me so" is not good enough. I know where the 7 comes from by the way if anyone is interested.

So where does the 7 come from?

Psychics make a buck pretending they can connect you with the dead, and SOME gurus make a buck pretending they can connect you with your dreams of success. Gurus can teach, but they walk a fine line. Marketers of all kinds need to be careful.

That was an attempt at humor. I should have used a smiley.

I can tell you the retail industry in the 70s started using a 7 to denote items on sale for internal use, not to alert customers. Ted Nichols apparently was the 1st to put his own spin on the 7 for direct mail. Ask anyone who swears by the practice and all the studies done and not one person will be able to cite a study.

From what I have read (in my retail studies) 5, 7, and 9 were the numbers that retailers liked to use, more so for smaller items, ie. 29.99 sounds better (to some) than 30.00. As folks became used to this the 7 and 5 came into play.

On higher priced items the 5, 7, and 9 move in the dollar column.

How often have you heard "I don't want you to spend more than .......(usually a rounded dollar amount)"

But not sure if there have been actual studies down, but since retail folks study everything, I am sure there is one around.....somewhere!

B

Here's some interesting reading on the above http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pricing

While not always known to be 100% accurate there is some interesting comments here.

B

I worked in retail in the 70's and I know in my area, Walmart type stores were one of the first to use the 7 price thing.
Prices went from $2.99 all the way down to $2.97. Two cents is not much but it's enough to run store managers
crazy and convince shoppers to change their shopping habits.

But anyway, going back to the Yale Tale, it's also often credited to a Harvard study. Nobody ever gets it right.
I may very well be the only person around knowing the real story about the Cornell University goal studies.

Seriously, I do agree that we shouldn't let others set our goals for us. But real 'motivational' speakers like Ziglar,
Tracy, and Robbins don't set your goals for you, they 'encourage' you to go for the goals you have already set for yourself.

Most people don't listen to motivational speakers to learn the cold hard facts, they looking to be motivated into taking action.
They're not looking for someone to set the goal, they looking for inspiration to reach 'their' goals. A good speaker will use facts,
stories, and even parables to make a point. What's funny is, 99 percent of the time, it's some common sense point that needs proving.
Who would think that folks would question good ole common sense.

Tom

Gurus. Uh huh.

Not a fan.

BUT while I abhor most of the techniques and the apologists we have for them I do want to interject the following. If they spur you to take action that is positive, if they inspire you to move the ball forward in what you are doing, that little misstatement of fact might not be so critical.

I can bash them all day and night if that is all we are after. BUT again they can push you at times and while the ends does not justify the means...

Although I see your point, I used to love taking "unknown" vacations when I was young and single. I would load up my car with some clothes and things and point it in a direction and drive without any clue of where I was going. That's how I "discovered" places like Gettysburg and Quebec City. I remember one such trip where I wound up in the Blue Mountains of West Virginia watching a sunrise while sitting in some little coffee shop, that was a cool experience. Hey, maybe I should become a guru! Nah, although I have learned an awful lot of information from others, I always take the gurus with a grain of salt and try to avoid them.

The 9,8,7 has also been used as a pricing code so a buyer, or manager could look at the price and determine how many times the item has been marked down; an example is a 49.99 is no mark down, a 39.98 is a 1st time markdown, a 29.97 is the 2nd time markdown… etc

This is a very good point.

I attended one of those marketing weekends back 1995. Looking back, I really didn’t learn much about marketing. Marketing to me is just doing what you already know is right. Its the doing it, the discipline that is difficult. The biggest benefit to my 1995 weekend was the motivation I got, the confidence that I could do it. That was worth every penny.

Speaking to the opening post, it is healthy to question conventional wisdom as long as you are being honest with yourself. For example, I would love to question the conventional wisdom of the importance of exercise. However, my honesty just propelled me to complete my regular 5-mile run this morning. Likewise, I have a hard time questioning the importance of goal setting.

I don't think anyone would question goal setting, but is it neccessary to tell a fantastic story of success that isn't true? Couldn't the "guru" take time to find a true and factual story to share? Unfortunately, when it comes out that something you shared is false, then the general public tends to discount everything else you've said even if the rest of it is true.